Nyalu Communications – Preparing a business plan geared for authentic growth

Implementing Grow’s model helped me identify areas of weakness and turn them into growth. Not only is my business successful, but my people too.

“My business is successful. My people are successful. That came as a result of our journey with Grow.”

Knowing where your business is going is the first step in getting it there. However, not having clearly defined strategies can throw you off course.

Like many other businesses, Nyalu Communications needed to make minor course corrections to get to where it is today. The good news is that no backtracking was required – just a defined and clear North Star in the form of a structured growth strategy to guide the business to success.

When Nyalu Communications first opened its doors in 2006, operating as a printing company, authentic growth was top of mind. From knee-high, the company’s founder, Ephraim Mashisani, had always wanted to pursue a career doing something he was genuinely passionate about – connecting with people through creative and innovative solutions, while staying true to who he was.

Ephraim admits it was challenging to initially venture into the mainstream printing industry, but recognised that to be successful, you must be confident in yourself and your business. And so, he unapologetically raised a glass to bravery and took a giant leap.

He bought printing machines, hired staff, and started targeting customers with a vision to transform Nyalu into a leading, black-owned communication solutions company, employing a capable team of over 60 strong.

Over the years, Nyalu went from offering simple branding and design solutions, to a more diversified offering, including: screen-printing, embroidery, digital and litho-printing, to advertising, and TV and radio productions, exceeding expectations on the most demanding projects for clients.

The business grew, and Nyalu Communications became known as a solutions-driven company that clients could rely on for fast lead times and high- quality products. Ephraim also gained a reputation within the industry as a business owner with superb people skills, a big heart, and an honest desire to help his employees develop both inside and outside the workplace.

Still, despite magnetic success – something was missing within the business model a plan to unlock the next phase of growth needed to be developed.

Ephraim always had a ‘vision’ of how the business should operate, but there was no ‘living blueprint’ that mapped out ways in which to build, expand and develop on this vision.

“Although I knew I wanted to grow Nyalu’s market penetration, market expansion, product expansion, diversification and acquisition, I didn’t know how to get us there,” says Ephraim.

“There was no logical ‘next step’. There was no clear roadmap on how to expand the existing business, increase revenue from existing customers, train a customer-centric team, and encourage customers to bring their friends and family into the fold.”

“Without a framework, I didn’t know which next steps to take. There was no question: Nyalu’s growth strategy needed urgent attention. A hugely important turning point for myself, my staff, and my business, was the moment I recognised what Nyalu was lacking.”

Not every business needs a cash beanstalk to thrive. Sometimes, all you need to scale, grow and triple your success, is to develop a system that can help your business grow where it’s planted; that’s exactly what Grow helped this proudly South African company do.

Nyalu Communications was one of nine businesses accepted into the Supplier Development Programme that Shell South Africa engaged Grow to execute. Under the multinational’s global supply programme, qualifying suppliers were given the opportunity to work with Grow to become independent, sustainable, and profitable.

When Ephraim was given a chance to work alongside a Grow Business Coach, he embraced the opportunity. Ephraim was more than willing and determined to understand what coaching would entail and what commitment was needed for long-term growth.

He was also impressed by Grow’s winning formula for building successful businesses – a formula-based on deep research, practical application, validated coaching and business growth methodologies.

Despite Ephraim’s first encounter with his coach being online, it was clear that this entrepreneur was eager to work with Grow’s coaching team and fully immerse himself in the experience of learning different ways to improve his business model.

Despite never meeting Ephraim in person – or any team member from Nyalu, due to the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic – Ephraim’s Grow coach quickly established a deep-rooted relationship with the business and all those in it.

Following a comprehensive assessment to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges Nyalu was facing, Grow discovered that the success of the business’s strategic execution, design, and development, laid squarely on the shoulders of Ephraim. This dependency on the CEO can result in lukewarm performance by employees, as they lose the motivation to make autonomous decisions or to take any action at all.

Nyalu Communications’ Grow coach helped the team develop a practical and comprehensive five- step strategic management process. Everyone in the business needed to familiarise themselves with this process, and more importantly, implement it.

Accepting that the processes initially put in place were imperfect, and in learning from Grow, Ephraim and his team began interacting with Grow’s online learning management system, and with the skills developed, took the initiative to start building their own systems.

“As a team, when we adopted the five-step process our work ethic changed drastically. We eliminated many common mistakes we had made in the past across all departments.”

Grow helped Ephraim establish a Strategic Council with his senior team as council members, and then helped this team to co-create a tailored growth strategy for the business. Grow also helped the team to co-create a list of top strategic priorities Nyalu needed to execute within the business. These included improving conversion rates on RFQ’s and RFP’s, building relationships in different tiers, implementing seamless solutions to their operations, tightening their internal financial controls, and ensuring employees satisfaction; after all, happy workers are productive workers.

In building these strategic objectives, Grow further discovered that Nyalu had unintentional systems within the business. Just as the strategies and execution plans for the business weren’t documented, the business also had systems and processes that weren’t documented and recorded.

Ask any successful business owner and they’ll tell you that leading others isn’t easy. In many cases, it’s the most challenging part of being a business owner.

Working with Grow, Ephraim was able to grow as a leader, helping him to lead his employees better, and help them transition from individuals who needed a bit of handholding, into a highly collaborative team that are ready, willing, and able to take the initiative and go above and beyond.

“Implementing Grow’s model helped me identify areas of weakness within Nyalu and turn those weaknesses into growth,” says Ephraim.

“Things have changed so much within my business since partnering with Grow. There is a lot more structure, we are much more efficient, we can make quick decisions, and we allow the team to resolve issues, resulting in a lot less wasted time and money. We have cut costs without cutting quality across every department in ways I never knew were even possible. One such example is our petrol expenditure. We used to spend in the region of R100 000 on petrol for our fleets, but, through scheduling and system coordination, we have cut petrol costs in half – while still performing the same functions that we were performing before! This R50 000 fuel saving per month will result in well over half a million rand saving per year that drops to bottom line profits.

Grow’s input also led to a ‘book worm’ revolution within Nyalu. Ephraim’s Grow coach recommended a series of business books that could assist the managers with knowledge they could use both now and in the future.

One of the managers at Nyalu took it upon himself to purchase two copies of each of the recommended books. Each month, the managers read a book and review and discuss the contents among their peers.

“When I look at my team, I can see just how much they have grown both within the workplace, and as individuals as a result of our Grow coach introducing a culture of reading into our business. Employees were given access to business-related books so they could learn more about how business works in a way that is unintimidating and makes sense to everyone,” says Ephraim.

He states that by uplifting those around him through learning, more opportunities will arise, empowering those with newfound confidence to venture off into their own businesses one day.

“When I look at my team, I can see just how much they have grown both within the workplace, and as individuals as a result of our Grow coach introducing a culture of reading into our business.”

Ephraim is devoted to ongoing learning and collaboration, seeing his partner in Grow not only as a coach but also as a trusted confidant and colleague. Ephraim often uses his Grow coach as a sounding board and turns to him for sound advice and new ideas.

“Working with Grow has allowed for an experience that we could never have imagined. Coaching takes you on a journey where opportunities are identified and realised together, as a team,” says Ephraim.

“Our sessions with our Grow coach taught us to structure our business and define responsibilities. It’s so much more fun to go through life with real goals, feeling like you’re really accomplishing things. With proper coaching, I was able to realise exactly where I wanted my business to go, and exactly how to get it there.”

Since incorporating coaching into the business, Ephraim sincerely feels that this is just the beginning of something remarkable. He has opened himself and his company up to building a long-term, beneficial, and trusted relationship where both sides are genuinely invested in the process and is reaping the rewards.

“With the help of our Grow coach, we were also able to identify a list of six Blue Chip Corporates I wanted to do business with. I’m happy to say that this goal was reached. Not only did we secure the business of the six companies we pursued, but through a systemised approach, we also won the business of an additional two.”